Los Angeles history

Matt Weinstock, June 5, 1959

June 5, 2009 | 4:00
pm

Passing the Writ

As every sane
motorist knows, the best thing is to obey the law. Don't run any red
lights. Stop for pedestrians. Don't go too fast or too slow. Make
boulevard stops. Especially now. The law is bearing down from all sides.

But some people are bad drivers or careless or inconsiderate or unlucky and they get jammed up.

Consider
the case of a man, one of 4,700, who recently received notice from the
Motor Vehicle Department that his driving license has been suspended
for 90 days.

He drives 28,000 miles a year on his job. In the
last 18 years of driving in California he has had no 502s, no
reckless-driving charges and only one speeding ticket in the last three
years (60 in a 40 mph zone in Claremont, which he says was a speed trap).

HE HAS NEVER had his insurance canceled. He has always been covered under the financial responsibility law.

He believes the MVD's
widely publicized campaign to revoke licenses is a good one. However,
he considers his punishment unduly harsh and he had a writ of mandate
drawn up to file in Superior Court.

Before filing it, he is required by law to serve Robert McCarthy, MVD
director in Sacramento. This he did according to legal procedure by
sending a copy of the writ to the sheriff with a blank signed check to
cover costs.

The writ was returned to him a few days ago and he
dutifully took it to the county clerk's office to file. He was not
allowed to file it because it had not been served personally on
McCarthy but on his secretary. Now he must make out a new writ and
start over.

Somehow he has the feeling that he is getting the runaround.

::

NOT LONG AGO Ed Dowd innocently asked his class at Montebello High to use the words synonymous" and "bemoaning" in sentences. Among the examples were these headshakers:

"The lady gave birth to synonymous twins."

"The man looked out of the window, and, although it was still dark, he knew it would soon bemoaning."

::

HEAVENLY

Don't look now!(It's too much fun"We're up in orbit'Found the sun!

- RAY SOUTHWORTH

::

FARMERS HAVE
long debated whether hogs fatten better when kept in enclosures or when
allowed to browse at will on the greensward. At last an animal
husbandry study group, after comparing weights achieved by the two
methods over a period of years, has come up with the answer. "The pen,"
states the report received by Maurice Ogden of Garden Grove, "is
meatier than the sward."

::

AS REPORTED here, a lady shopping for a new phonograph became so confused by the hi-fi talk that she described her old machine to the salesman as "an old lo-fi."
Comes now another lady who became so distraught because her daughter
kept the volume so high on their set that she disconnected the ply. Now
she proudly boasts of a "no-fi" set.

::

A BIG CRISIS
is reported in the Toastmasters International monthly publication which
has headquarters in Santa Ana. The Warren (0.) club president inquired
if it is acceptable parliamentary procedure to turn off his hearing aid
when he is subjected to unwarranted or undesirable debate. No immediate
decision.

::

AT RANDOM -- A short snorter $1 bill on which was written "Dr. W. W. Kamerer
July 17, 1943" was handed in on a purchase in a San Fernando Valley
store the other day. If the doc is around and wants the bill as a
keepsake it's being held for a few days ... Only in Disneyland: By the
touch of a button, the four waterfalls on the new Matterhorn there will
be set in motion June 14. Yep, push-button waterfalls. Not all the
magic is taking place in outer space ... Bob Ferris remarked onKABC
yesterday that it will only be a matter of time until the Russians send
up a cat-bearing satellite to hunt down the missing mice ... Pat Buttram said it: "The only person who ever got the week's work done by Friday was Robinson Crusoe."